COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF Hericium erinaceus, Hericium americanum AND Hericium coralloides

Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine the total phenolic content (TPC) and the antioxidant activity of methanol extracts of Hericium erinaceus, Hericium americanum and Hericium coralloides, including free radical scavenging method (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and radical cation scavenging method (ABTS). Hericium spp exhibited moderate to high antioxidant activity. The highest TPC (3.27 ±0.01 mg GAE g–1) and antioxidant activity values (17.0 ±0.68 mmol TE g‒1 in FRAP; EC50 = 4.12 ±0.12 mg mL‒1 in DPPH•; EC50 = 2.83 ± 0.10 mg mL‒1 in ABTS•+) were found for methanol extracts of H. coralloides. The TPC and antioxidant activity of H. erinaceus isolates varied from strain to strain. H. americanum possessed considerably lower total phenolic content (2.31 ±0.01 mg GAE g‒1) and antioxidant activity (10.5 ±0.59 mmol TE g‒1 in FRAP; EC50 = 7.82 ±0.09 mg mL‒1 in DPPH•; EC50 = 6.36 ± 0.12 mg mL‒1 in ABTS•+) than H. coralloides and H. erinaceus. A high correlation was determined between TPC and ABTS•+ (r2 = 0.855), DPPH• (r2 = 0.969) and FRAP (r2 = 0.942). According to results obtained in the present study, Hericium spp., especially H. coralloides and some of H. erinaceus isolates, might be promising natural source of antioxidants for food and pharmaceutical industry.